Visitors to the Children’s Hospital No 1 in HCM City have to make an online health declaration. Photo suckhoedoisong.vn

HCM CITY — The HCM City Department of Health has called on local health and other officials to strictly follow COVID-19 safety regulations and promptly place identified infection clusters under control, warning that the Lunar New Year celebrations and increase in travel during the holidays are likely to cause a spike in infections.

It urged people’s committees in Thủ Đức City and districts to monitor people returning to HCM City from other cities and provinces, encourage those not vaccinated to get their shots and raise public awareness about disease prevention and control.

Management of quarantine for people entering the country from abroad needs to be strengthened to prevent the spread of the pandemic, it said.

Anyone with suspected symptoms should get tested for COVID and inform health officials, it said.

It said the HCM City Centre for Disease Control and Prevention should administer the third dose of vaccines for people aged 18 and above and second dose for those aged 12-17.

It instructed public and private health facilities to strengthen screening of visitors with suspected symptoms and inform the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention about suspected omicron infections and send samples for performing genomic sequencing. —VNS